For the first time in six attempts as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Jim Harbaugh has defeated the hated Ohio State Buckeyes.
Following the game, Harbaugh explained why he was confident that the Wolverines would beat the Buckeyes to advance to the Big Ten Championship Game.
From Wolverines Wire:
“I don’t know if I really have a spectacular quote or anything like that for you. It’s just what you do, it’s what you do. You just keep working, keep grinding, knowing that it’s gonna pay off. This team is beautifully soldered together as a team, as a true team. There was the new, we have a lot of new players. Guys like J.J., Donovan Edwards, Andrel Anthony, Rod Moore, and many others that produced. New staff that brought perspective, new perspective, new ideas, energy. There’s a long list of guys like that that were phenomenal. Brought so much energy and perspective to the squad. And then there’s the guys I like to refer to as the foundation. They’re the foundation of the team and that’s the biggest number of guys — guys that were here in 2020, guys that were here somewhere in 2020, ’19, ’18, ’17, ’16. Going all the way back to 2015. Those are the guys. They were raised, they learned that you don’t just fold or quit at the slightest whiff of adverse circumstances. So many in that group, so many coaches and players — Cade McNamara, Dax Hill — long, long list of guys.
“And just committed guys, truly committed guys. The seniors on our team that have been here the longest, worked the most. Have overcome some adverse circumstances — injury, other kind of setbacks. I’m just talking all players here. All those seniors. And the fourth group: the ones. The ones — without them we wouldn’t be where we are. Guys that are really, literally, willing to take the team on their backs. If there was like a train, like a locomotive going down the tracks, they would have stopped it, picked it up onto their backs, turned it around and started pushing. The rest of us started pushing, too. Those guys — Aidan Hutchinson, Hassan Haskins, Brad Hawkins, Andrew Vastardis, Josh Ross, Moody, Robbins, and Ronnie Bell, and Ryan Hayes. We wouldn’t be where we’re at without them.”
